Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1887-11-04

tyf Why let your foes come into the sanctities
of your dormitory9 Why let those slanderers
who have already torn your reputation to
pieces or injured your bus ineSs, bend over
your midnight pillow and drive from you one
of the greatest blessings that God can offer
sweet, refreshing, all invigora.ing sleepl
Why not fence out your enemies by the
golden bars of the sunset! Why not stand
behind the bafricade of evening Cloud and
say to them: "Thus far and no farther ~
Many man and many a woman is having
the health Of body as we'll as the health of
soul eaten away by malevolent spirit l
have in time of religious awakening had per-
sons night after night come into the inquiry
room and get no peace Of soul. After a
while have hluntly asked her: sis there
not some one against whom you have a
hatred that you are not willing to give upln
After little confusion she has slightly
whispered "Yes." Then said to her. 6You
will never find peace with God as long as
you retain that viruence."
A boy in Sparta, having stolen fox, kept
him under his coat, and, though the fox was
gnawing his vitalS, he submitted to it rather
than expose his misdeed. Many a man with
a smiling face has under his jacket an ami
mostly that is gnawing away the strength Of
his body and the integrity of his soul. Better
get rid of that hidden fox as soon as possible.
There are hundreds of domestic circles where
that which most is needed is the spirit OF for
giveness Brothers apart and sisters apart
and parents and children apart Solomon
says brother offended is harder to be won
than strong city. Are there not enough
sacred memories of your childhood to bring
you together The rabbins recount how that
Nebuchadnezzar's son had such a spite
against his father that after he was
lead he had his father burned to
ashes, and then put the ashes into
tour sacks and tied them to four eagles
necks which flew away in opposite directions.
And there are now domestic antipathies
which seem forever to have scattered all
parental memories to the four winds of
heaven. How far the eagles fly with the
sacred ashes! The hour of sundown makes to
hat family impractical suggestion. Thomas
Carlyle, in his biography of Frederick the
Great, says the old king was told by the con-
essor he must be at peace with his enemies if
le wanted to enter heaven. Then he said to
ais wife, the Queen "Wrlte to your brother
after am dead that forgive him" Roof,
jhe confessor, said: Her majesty had besyer
write him immed lately" ''No," said the
King, latter am dead that will be safer.'
So he let the sun of his earthly existence go
iown upon his wrath
Again: We ought not to allow the sun to set
before forgiveness takes place, because we
night not live to see another day. And what
we should be ushered into the presence Of
our Maker with grudge upon our soul3 The
majority of people depart this life in the
hight. Between II o'clock p. m. and o'clock
m. there is something in the atmosphere
which relaxes the grip which the body has on
ihe soul, and most people enter the next
world through the shadows of this world.
Perhaps God may have arranged it in
that way so as to make the con-
rast the more glorious. l have seen
unshiny days in this world that must have
been almost like the radiance of heaven. But
Is most people leave the earth between sun
lown and sunrise, they quit this world at its
darkest, and heaven, always bright will be
the brighter for that contrast. Out of black
qess into irradiation. Shall we then leap over
5he roseate bank of sunset into the favorite
hunting ground of disease and death, carry
ng our animoSites with usi Who would
want to confront his God, against whom we
have all done meaner things than anybody
has ever done against us, carrying old
grudges9 How can we expect his forgive
ness for the greater when we are
not willing to forgive others the less?
Napoleon was encouraged to undertake The
crossing Of the Alps because Carlemagne
had previously crossed them. And all this
rugged path of forgiveness bears the bleeding
footsteps Of him who conquered through
suffering, and we ought to be willing to fol-
this life into the next, our one plea will have
to be for mercy, and it will have to be
offered in the presence Of him who has
said eff you forgive not men their tres
passes neither will your heavenly Father for
give your trespasses.n What a sorry plight
if we stand there hating this one, and hating
that one, and wishing this one damage and
some one else a calamity, and we ourselves
needing forgiveness for ten thousand times ten
thousand obliquities of heart and life. When
our last hour comes, we want it to find us all
right Hardly anything affects me so much
in the uncogering of ancient Po npeii as the
account of tie soldier who, after the city had
for many centuries been covered with the
ashes and scorie of VesIvius, was found
standing in his place on guard, hand on spear
and hemlet on head. Others fled at the awful
submergement, but the explorer, roo years
after, found the body of that brave fellow in
right position. And it will be grand thing
II, when our last moment comes, we are
found in right position toward the world, as
well as in right position toward God, on
guard and unafflighted by the ashes from the
mountain of death. do not suppose that l
am any more of a coward than most people,
but declare to you that l would not dare to
sleep tonight if there were any being in all
the earth with whom | would not gladly
shake hands, lest during the night hours,
my soul dismissed to other realms, should,
because of my untorgiving spirit, be denied
divine forgiveness.
But" says some woman, "there is hor-
rid creature that has 50 injured me that rather
than make up with her | would die first"
Well, sister, you may take your choice
for one or the other it will be-your COM
plete pardon of her or Gods eternal banish-
ment of you. But says some man
''tbat fellow who cheated me out of those
goods, or damaged my business credit, OF
started the lie about me in the newspapers,
or by his perfdy broke up my domes.
give him | will not" Well, brother, take
your choice. You will never be at peace
with God till you are at peace with man.
Feeling as you now do, you would not get so
near the harbor of heaven as to see the light
ship. Better leave that man with the God who
said: vengeance is mine, | viii repay"
You may say: II will make him sweat for
that yet, will make him squirm, mean to
pursue him to the DEATH" but you are dam
aging yourself more than you damage him
and you are making heaven for your own
soul an impossibility. If he will not be
reconciled to you, be reconciled to him. In
five or six hours it will be sundown. The
dahlias will soon bloom against the western
sky. Somewhere between this and that take a
shovel and bury the old grudge at least six
feet deep. "Let not the sun go down on your
wrath"
But" you say, II have more than can
bear; too much is put upon me, and am not
to blame if | am somewhat revengeful and
unrelenting." Then think of the little child
at the moving of some goods from store.
The father was putting some rolls Of goods
ond ON Tse shds arm package 6 ater package
loaded and so much ought not to be put upon
her" when the child responded: Father
knows how much can carry" and God, our
Father, will not allow too much imposition
on his children. In the day of eternity it
will be found you had not one annoyance too
many, not one aspersion too many, not one
outrage too many Your heavenly Father
knows how much you can carry.
Again, we ought not to allow the passage